6 days in Switzerland

We just spent 7 total nights in Switzerland in early July. One night in Lauterbrunnen (nice and central there in the valley, but you will likely leave that town daily to hike and see everyplace else). Five nights in Murren, and we can't say enough good things about it. At least when we were there, it was not overcrowded, plenty of people and things to do and see, and great springboard location for hikes and sightseeing. One night in Lausanne was okay. We could have easily spent more than 6 of our nights in the Jungfrau region.

We spent 7 days in the Berner Oberland and could have spent more. Most people recommend not staying in Interlaken and I agree. We stayed in Lauterbrunnen and were happy with that. You can access all the areas from there. If you want to stay further up in the mountains, Murren has the best views, but Weggis is closer to the Jungfrau.

Regarding Swiss Rail Passes - I calculated the trips we would be taking and ended up with the Half Fare card and think we ended up spending somewhat less than one of the passes.

Interlaken is a very nice city. But for mountain scenery on steriods, you can't beat staying 20 miles away in the Lauterbrunnen Velley. You don't see this from Interlaken.

Also, it's so easy to do. At the Interlaken Ost train station, take the Jungfraubahn train into Lauterbrunnen. 25 minutes and great valley scenery and you're there. The train runs every 30 minutes.

Note that the RT fare for the Jungfrau is $152 (161CHF). I would suggest looking at the Swiss Half-Fare card. It's good for 30 days and you get 50% off on all Swiss transportation. The cost is 99CHF ($93.51) and is good for unlimited travel. The best Swiss pass is much more expensive and it only covers 50% of the trip up and back from the Jungfrau. Same discount.

You may have trouble finding a hotel in Lauterbrunnen in November. Many of the hotels in the smaller mountain villages close at thet time, as it is between seasons. Interlaken hotels should be open, however.

If you are definitely going up the Jungfrau, then the Half-Fare Card suggested by larry is a good idea---it will practically pay for itself on that one trip.

Siwss weather in November is often very cloudy or foggy, so hopefully you'll get at least one good day with mountain views.

Lola is correct. Many hotels in the Lauterbrunnen valley close for "shoulder season". They are preparing for winter skiing.

We had a wonderful stay at the hotel Silberhorn www.silberhorn.com. Take a look at their website. Their restaurant is the best in the valley. The last time I checked with them on this subject, they said that they were closing Nov 15. If you are interested in staying inside the valley, send them an email. They do respond.

Larry---was that for this year? Their (Hotel Silberhorn's) 2010 pricelist indicates their shoulder season ends October 30, and they re-open for the Christmas holidays on 17 December:

http://www.silberhorn.com/index.cfm?tem=1&spr=1&hpn=4&sbn=18

Hotel Oberland (which also has good food) indicates they close 31 October as well.

Chris---won't most of the places in Mürren be closed after November 1 as well?

We stayed in Lauterbrunnen which is more centrally located between the villages.

I would also suggest the Valley Hostel if you are interested in saving money.

Thanks for your responses. I wouldn't have thought about the hald-price pass, so we will look into this option. We are travling Nov. 2-7 of this year, 2010, and found that many of the smaller towns were limited as far as hotels, so we were planning to stay in Interlaken.

I will chime in with others regarding staying in Interlaken. It is touristy with many tacky shops, even a porn shop or two. Many years ago it probably was a nice place but not now--it is a place to change trains or maybe do laundry. We loved Wengen for our six night stay but Murren and Lauterbrunnen looked great also. We stayed at Alpenrose and will stay there on our next trip to Switzerland.

From the description of Interlaken around here one would think it something similar to Camden NJ, or Detroit MI:) It's not! It's a little bit touristy, but it's fine place to base yourself.....especially in November when most of the hotels in the mountain villages are closed. I've stayed here many times off-season and it's never been "over-run" by tourists. You'll also find a better variety of affordable restaurants, and it's a great transportation hub. When I stay in Interlaken I usually stay here (patronized and recommended
by Rick Steves):

http://www.lotschberg.ch/pages/english/rates.php

Base out of Lauterbrunnen and you can see the best of both worlds. It's the Yosemite of Europe only better. We were there only last month but I'm itching to return. Take the RR over to Grindlewald and plan to do some mountain hiking. You won't regret this!!!!